Letter of the Law

by ticketprinting on March 24, 2009

[Update 11 December 2012: In the nearly 4 years since the original publication of this blog post, it has received dozens of comments in the form of questions about UK raffle law, and become one of Google’s top hits for the search query. We would like to remind readers that advice from strangers on the Internet is no substitute for informed research; while I can offer my interpretation of the law, you should ALWAYS consult your local gaming council in these matters. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of URLs for local gaming councils throughout the UK. PLEASE use this resource, rather than leaving comments on this post. It is a much wiser course of action.]

In any lottery

, your aim is to make money for your organisation. The last think you want is to violate the law of the land or create trouble for your favorite charity or group. For this reason, it is of the utmost importance that you are aware of the legal implications of your raffle.

In the UK, we have some strict laws concerning lotteries and raffles, as per the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 and the National Lottery Act 1993. Large raffles are considered a form of gambling and therefore require a licence. There are three kinds of legal raffles.

Small Raffle: If all your proceeds will go to charity and you intend to sell tickets only during the course of the event, a Small Raffle will suit your needs. Charge no more than one pound per ticket. You can give away any donated prizes, but may not have cash awards or spend over 250 pounds on prizes. You do not need a licence for this type of raffle.

Private Raffle: If tickets will be offered only to a defined group, such as members of a club or employees of the same organisation, and the raffle will not be advertised or available outside this group, a Private Raffle will be appropriate. In this case, you will also not need a licence.

Charity Raffle: If you want to sell raffle tickets amongst the general populace over a period of days, you will have to declare a Charity Raffle. Charge no more than 2 pounds per ticket and keep strict financial records. YOU MUST OBTAIN A LICENCE FROM THE GAMING BOARD OR LOCAL AUTHORITY FOR THIS!

An alternative way to sell raffle tickets without a licence is to hold a Prize Competition. Rather than determining the winner by drawing, you will ask a quiz question and reward prizes to those who answer correctly. Since the Prize Competition is based on skill rather than luck, it is not a matter for the Gaming Board.

Do It for Charity can offer some wonderful ideas on fund raising, including tips for keeping your raffle proper and legal. Best of luck!

COMMENTS TO THIS ENTRY HAVE BEEN CLOSED AS OF 9 JANUARY 2013. PLEASE CONSULT OUR LIST OF LOCAL GAMING COUNCILS, FIND THE APPROPRIATE CONTACT INFORMATION, AND ASK AN EXPERT!

Actually, upon further research, this does not seem to be the case. You may sell 5 ticket for £1.00, but as all participants must have “equal chance for equal outlay”, you may not sell some tickets at a discount.

hi sorry to bother u just wondered were i stand i bought a raffle ticket from work it was £1 a ticket top prize a flat screen tv and some other prizes i was asked by a member of staff if i want to buy a ticket so i said yes paid my £1 bought one ticket then when i won a prizwe i was told i couldnt have it as i wasnt in the union which the raffle was for. There was nothing advertised any were that you had to be a union member so if i paid my pound and won a prize am i not entitaled to it please help

Indeed, I am not a solicitor, but it seems to me that you ought to receive your prize. If you were not eligible to win, I think it was against the law for them to sell you the ticket. There are rules governing small raffles in the UK, which state that if the draw is operated without a license, it must be open only to a certain group, such as customers at a particular shop or employees at a business. If they were operating it as a workplace raffle, they should give you the prize, and if they were operating it as a union raffle, they should not have sold you the ticket. However, I’m not sure what recourse you have. How powerful is the union?

Yes, unfortunately. In the UK, the law requires that all tickets sold for an individual prize draw have the same value. It is not permitted for some tickets to effectively cost less than other tickets, providing some with better odds for the amount spent, as would be the case if one offered a discount on bulk sales. This is the “equal chance for equal outlay” rule mentioned above.

Click the above link, or check with your local gaming council for more details.

Hello, you may think this is a crazy idea, but im trying to sell my husbands motorbike but am not having any joy, I am hoping to raise £7000, so thought maybe i could raffle it off for £10 per ticket and not draw the raffle until all the tickets are sold, is this idea crazy of possible, thanks.

Please check with your local Gaming Board. This might be a good opportunity to hold a prize competition rather than a raffle, just to stay on the safe side of the law. The idea does not seem crazy to me, but in any case, it is best to check the legality of not holding the draw until all tickets are sold. Best wishes!

hi, im hopeing you may be able to advise me, i buy in bulk large electrical good i.e. tv’s, kettle, irons ect ect.
i was thinking of doing a raffle with lots of prizes( sound daft i know ) but i wonderd if it was legal?
many thanks

It doesn’t sound at all daft to me! I believe this should be legal, but, as with all prize draws, you must verify with your local Gaming Board or Gaming Commission to ensure as much, particularly as it seems this raffle will be for profit, rather than charity.

If you need to get rid of all this stock quickly, offering many prizes makes a great deal of sense. However, if time is not an issue, a few smaller draws over the space of a year might net greater financial profit.

I am trying to arrange a fundraising event for our golf club. For example Name Teddy Bear Birthday £1.00 per go with a bottle of spirits as a prize or How Many Golf Balls in a Barrel £1.00 per go with a bottle of spirits as a prize. Do I need a licence and would this event be deemed as a Private Raffle?

My instinct is that the “guess how many golf ball” stratagem could get you around the laws governing raffles, and that, if you only planned to sell tickets to members of your club, and only in a set time and place, that it could qualify as a private raffle. However, the fact that the prize would be a bottle of spirits might require extra thought. In any case, you do need to double check with an expert on this one. Better safe than sorry!

Hello, my company would like to offer their customers a Prize Raffle Draw. Tickets will be issued in accordance to the volume of seasonal product bought. Tickets would go into a hat and at the end of the promotion, drawn to reveal the winner of a weekend away in Scotland.
Does the company require a license to hold this draw?
Many thanks,
Anita.

Hmm, that is a tricky one. “Customer Lotteries” are exempt from government oversight, provided they are run by the business owners and tickets are only available to customers of the business.

However, there ARE restrictions based on the time period in which you hope to distribute tickets. Distributing tickets throughout an entire season might be a problem. In addition, I’m not entirely certain how the “volume of seasonal product bought” might translate, financially. UK Law is fairly strict regarding the cost of the ticket. Even exempt raffles must follow certain rules and regulation.

My understanding is that if your raffle requires a licence, then you must print that licence number, along with other critical details on the ticket. All ticket templates from UK Ticket Printing automatically cue you for the required information.

please could you tell me is it legal to still sell cloak room ticket for a raffle and do they have to be drawn on the same day a charitiy event is happening at our local hall and the raffle is going to be drawn after the event ?

Louise, you will still need to check with your Gaming Council, but I believe you may legally sell these tickets as long as you draw the prizewinners at the charity event. It can be the last thing that happens at the event, but if you plan to draw the winners on another day, you will probably need a licence. It makes the most sense to sell the cloakroom tickets during the event and make the prize draw a part of the event.

I recently purchased a £20 Raffle ticket from Mercedes Benz. Gibraltar. It was stated on the ticket that it would be drawn 31st March 2011. It wasnt! and on enquiring to Merc Gib, I was told it was put off untill March 31st. 2011 !? Is it legal to change the date of a draw? with out notifying the purchasers??

Yes, this is a legal way to circumvent UK Gaming Laws (although I believe typically contestants pay *first* and then answer the question). I am about to post an article on this very subject!

Mike C.~

I am a bit confused. Perhaps you made a mistake in copying out the dates? I am uncertain about this. Indeed, it does seem underhanded. UK law insists that the date of the draw be printed on the ticket, and for this reason, it seems unusual that they would choose to put off the draw (although I have heard of this being done in other countries if the organisation did not sell enough tickets to make the draw financially viable). I would advise that you take your concerns to the local gaming commission. They will know whether this is illegal, and if it is, they will be quite interested to know.

I am manager of petrol station. Every year my company holds a community charity week, when every store has to fundraise for a charity local to that store. I want to hold a raffle in which the prize would be 60 litres of fuel. tickets £1 each. Every single pound would be donated to Essex Air Ambulance. which type of raffle would this come under, Charity or small? would i need permission/licence?

I am producing some raffle tickets for an upcoming fundraising event for a charity. I understand certain details are required to be printed on the tickets, one of which is promoters name and address. I’ve read different things about this- some say it has to be a named person but the address doesnt have to be a personal address, also the named person has to be the person holding the gambling license.
We do hold a gambling licence but as far as i’m aware, it is not held in a single persons name. Instead it is held by our charity. I’m happy to put my name forward but the license is not in my name. Can i put the address of the charity instead of my home address. Advise would be appreciated.

Could you tell me if its against the law for raffle tickets to be sold to members of a private club to win a prize, and then the money taken is then shared out to the members at a later date to use to go out for a meal ??? ( I think it is )

I am thinking of running a raffle or prize competition with a static caravan as the prize,would it be legal to not actually purchase the caravan before the draw so that the winner can choose which site they would like the caravan to be sited upon ?

Hi, my workplace recently held a raffle using cloakroom tickets where employees were given 1 strip of 5 tickets free and the option to purchase more, the proceeds of which would go to a local charity. Many people did purchase more tickets. When the raffle was drawn it was announced that only people present at the raffle would be eligible to receive the ‘star’ prize and other prizes could be collected by those both present and not present. Is this legal?, as some people were on holiday and others were not present when the draw was made and had bought extra tickets obviously to increase their chances of winning the top prize.

I have a newsagents. I want to sell raffle tickets to my customers and the prize would be 90 percent of the raffle money received. With a 10 percent going to myself. Is this legal and would I need a licence?

Please can you tell me if it is legal for a club to postpone a raffle-draw, making the draw date three week later than the date advertised on the raffle tickets? The club insisted all ticket stubs were to be returned by 30th of August and the draw was to take place on 10th of September. There was no reason for postponing the draw other than to have it when more people might be at the club buying drinks! Hope you can help.

Hi. I am considering to do a non charity raffle where tickets will he sold to the public for £1 (or more). They would be sold also at a venue where I organize night club events. I was wondering , do I need a license and what are the costs?

Hello,
I’m thinking about running a raffle for charity in my local University. Tickets will be sold for £1 each, the prizes available (probably worth more than £250) and the raffle winners will be advertised on the universities internal website.
As tickets will be offered only to members of the university, and the raffle will not be advertised outside of the university, is the raffle classed as a ‘private raffle’. And therefore, a licence is not needed? Regardless of how many tickets are sold and how much money is raised.

Hey there im intrested in raffleing my motorbike of and as i read the laws above if i was to
make a group on lets say facebook were only members of the group could by a ticket there gor its a private raffel and to my understanding would not need a licence and would be legal
thanks for your time

I’m hoping you can help me with a little advice. I have a been doing some fundraising to raise for cancer research U.K. And after asking for donations over the last few weeks, i’ve had an offer of a PC donated if i would like it. I would like to either auction or raffle it off. Can you please give me a little advice. I was planning on selling the tickets to friends family acquaintances. Also via my fundraising page on social sites.

Hi, I intend to run a raffle based on the outcome of my time running a marathon. People will be sold tickets with times and one winner will recieve the prize. Is this based on skill personal to me and therefore not luck. It is for charity and I will do my utmost to finish in the quickest possible time.

Good afternoon, I have no idea how I came across this page but it has caught my attention

Okay couple of questions to see if I understand

1) I don’t need a Licence as long as I have a question so its counted as a “Prize competition”

2) a)Would I be allowed to say its a Prize competition raffle? if no then….
2) b) After they by a buy in the competition Am I allowed to give them a raffle ticket?

3)As this would be a Prize draw would I still need to have a date on there tickets?
4)if I was selling per entrée 0.25p, Am i allowed to have a minimum amount “like its 25p but min is 50p to entrée so two tickets

My understanding of the law is that, if some people are purchasing single tickets and some are drawing the strip of five, this would actually *reduce* the “equal chance for equal outlay,” as five tickets would essentially be treated as one ticket. I would advise tearing the tickets off and drawing them individually. However, you should direct this question to your local gaming council for further clarification.

I would definitely advise you to contact the local gaming council. I get the sense that you are eager to “get around” the rules and use your draw as a personal moneymaking venture. Step carefully! The council will inform you of the best way to legally conduct your affairs.

To be honest, this scenario has not been addressed in *any* of the laws I’ve come across! Since it’s for charity, your local gaming council will be more than happy to help you construct a legal plan for your game.

Your reasoning appears sound to me, but, as always, I would advise checking with the gaming council before proceeding. The law looks upon prize draws for personal gain in a very different light as those for charity.

Hi
I am raising money to go to teach english as a volunteer in Thailand. The money is sent to a charitable gap year organisation with a license from the gambling board.
I want to sell tickets for £5 each (prize is very valuable) over about a month. How do i do this legally as i don’t want the charity to be have its licence revoked as that would ruin all raffles for future volunteers.

I am planning on holding a raffle in weeks time with all proceeds going to our local children’s hospice. I am planning on selling a strip of tickets for a £1. The raffle tickets will be sold to staff on one day only during other fund raising events, so I am presuming that I don’t need a licence. However, we are also thinking of selling tickets on a various sites to our customers on the day – again can this be done without a licence?
your help would be much appreciated

Hi I wonder if you can help me, i am offering to do a raffle on xmas day untill new years eve, the raffle will take place on my face book, i am charging 1 pound a ticket and people have to pick a number from 1 to 100, they will pick a number and pay through my Pay Pal account, then on new years eve i will put numbers 1 to 100 in a hat and someone will pick the winners out, then i will let them know on my fb page, i have never done this before i just want to help a family memeber to raise a bit of money for their little boy needs a new wheelchair, it will be a one off raffle. i have about 8 prizes which are all donated, some one has said that i need a licence for this, as it may not be worth me doing it if i do as i have been told it is about £40.00 which i don’t even think i will raise that.

I do hope you can help me with this and get back to me before saturday .

Hello i wonder if you can help me. I belong to a large group. We have lots of different members and we have been given a fold up bike and a garden hammock to raffle to raise funds for a charity. We only intend to keep this raffle in house amoungst all of our members. We are going to either sell tickets for 1.00 per strip. Or we maybe have offical tickets printed with the charity number on them. Is this ok. Thank you

Hi, we are looking into a charity raffle and are thinking about charging £10-20/ticket for the chance to be selected to win £1000/2000 worth of holiday vouchers. Exact amounts are still to be confirmed but i just wanted to check if we needed to get a license for this to sell to the general public/announce on social pages.
Thank you

Hi there, i just had a few questions about the prize draw my newly formed theatre production company and I aim to carry out.

We intend to sell tickets at £5 each to friends/family/general public for a chance to win an iPad2. All the money that would be raised through the selling of the tickets would go towards the setting up of the theatre company and to take a production on tour around the country which aims raise awareness of the arts, new writing and to give graduates in theatre a place to start their careers. Once purchasing the ticket, participants name would go into a box and on a certain date (where all members of the production company are present) the winner would be drawn and contacted about their prize. It would then be delivered to them asap.

So basically my question is, would we need to have a licence to carry out a prize draw of this kind??

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I am really not at all certain about the legality of such draws, but in any case, it costs nothing to contact the local gaming council for their legal advice.

Others have asked this question. I am not certain; it seems to me this should be at the organisers’ discretion, provided the intention is stated in advance, but I would always refer any questions of this nature to the local gaming council.

i have just attended a charity event in the local united services club. There was a raffle which had an advertising poster in the club showing the top 9 prizes the first prize being two flights in club europe donated by B.A. to anywhere they operated flights in europe. There was no indication on the poster or on the tickets that the draw would be anything other than a normal raffle draw. As the tickets were being drawn the m.o.c. announced the prizes would be drawn in reverse order. My ticket was first out of the drum and instead of the advertised first prize i was given the 18th prize a set of frying pans. The same applied to everyone drawn out of the drum for the first 9 numbers all were allocated minor prizes instead of the advertised prizes on the poster. The committees attitude is that they can do what they like as long as they tell us –but surely 2 mins before the draw is not acceptable.and there should have been a statement to that effect on the tickets and advertising poster and the ticket sellers should have informed us at the time of purchase. Can anyone tell me what the legal position on this would be please. I have no problem with the money going to charity but feel the way the raffle was conducted was morally if not legally wrong.

hi
I am planning a private party at my place of work (the party is being held at a local hall) for people who I support who have learning disabilities. In the party we wanted to have a “Raffle” with prizes that are already purchased from the entry to the event so everyone will be included upon entry to the Raffle” (the entry fee to the event is to cover costs ONLY and are non-profit the “raffle” is just a bit of fun for the residents and no money will be needed to purchase a ticket) Please could you advise me if any licence is required for this type of “Raffle”
Many thanks
Michael

Provided all 18 prizes were awarded as advertised, I cannot see any basis for this complaint. There is no law dictating the order in which prizes must be awarded; in many places, awarding the lesser prizes first is a common method of building the excitement of the draw. Try to enjoy your new cookware and let go of your resentment. If you are seriously concerned with the legality of the issue, please contact your local gaming council.

Is it ok to sell discounted raffle tickets, for example 5 tickets for £4, as well as selling individual tickets for £1, when they are being sold within a private company and not being advertised outside of the company?

Is it illegal to record the names and addresses on raffle tickets stubs onto a data base, so that those people can be mailed at a later date with further information about the charity? I can’t see any information about it on the Gambling Commission website.

My daughter purchased a winning ticket for£1.00 in a pub raffle. The prize was £50.00. Instead of being able to claim her prize she was then told she had to take part in a “higher or lower” game of chance where she had to predict whether a playing card drawn from a pack woulld be higher or lower than the preceding one. She wasn’t sucessful and failed to win her raffle prize. Is this legal?

Our local darts league have a raffle every Christmas – they send £50 of tickets to each team to sell – this year they’ve made it part of the rules of being part of the league that you have to send the full £50 in regardless of whether or not you sell all the tickets – is this legal? Does it stop it being a raffle? Appreciate any advice!

Hi, my Mum entered a raffle in May the raffle ticket was 5 pound a strip was supposed to be for charity too prize over 300 of treatments, there was no draw date or anything else on ticket . It’s now sept and I tried to find out what happened with it as I heard from a reliable source it has not been drawn the owner said it had but wouldn’t let me know the winners is this right?

This is not an unusual tactic; it makes meeting a fundraising goal much easier. The league is simply stating that participation in the league requires a contribution of £50; you have the option of raising the money through ticket sales, donating the money out of pocket, or choosing not to participate in the league. I can’t see how this would make the raffle any less of a raffle, and I doubt it’s illegal for a private group to require a contribution to participate. Would you question the legality if, rather than sell raffle tickets, each team was asked to pay a registration or membership fee? If you have further questions, you should contact your local gaming council.

Hello
I’m just looking for a little bit of info if possible. Sorry if it’s been answered already.
I volunteer for a local registered charity, the founder and I are wanting to have a Christmas raffle to raise money for the charity. Were gathering prizes but I’m wondering what exactly we need to do in order to make sure were doing everything by the book and is it possible to get the legal side done in plenty of time before Christmas. Thanks in advance. Were in the North West of England.

I am a small business owner and my staff have suggested holding a Christmas raffle at our shop, selling tickets for £1 to customers. I am not clear on the rules of raffles and don’t want to do anything illegal. The prize is just a Christmas hamper and its really just a small Christmas promotion to get people talking about or business (we have only been open 6 months). It would be great if you could clear up the rules for me…also having read a few of the above comments are traditional raffle tickets no longer legal in this type of raffle?

As Secretary of a local cancer support charity I hope to run a raffle at a local school carol concert on Dec 18th. This will be attended by parents and children, AND some of our members who are fit enough to attend the concert. The raffle money will come to our charity. So this would seem to fit into the small raffle category.
HOWEVER, some of our support group members (therapists, patients and carers, volunteers) may not be able to attend the concert for one reason or another, but they might still wish to buy raffle tickets. Is this OK? Can this be fitted into the Private raffle category?

I believe this would fall under the category of a private raffle, and it is legal for you to sell tickets in this instance, but do contact your local gaming council to make sure you stay within the law!

I’m not really certain about your specific situation. It’s possible that selling tickets to those who will not be in attendance at the draw could be problematic. Please contact your local gaming council for more expert advice.

As a student of a school’s sixth form I would like to host a charity raffle event. The idea would be to get some students to sell a certain amount of raffle tickets (to their friends and family) for £1 a ticket and all proceeds will be distributed amongst two local charities. The draw will take place a few weeks after we first start selling tickets. Will this be able to classify as a private raffle? And will I need to get a license?

For a raffle type that would allow for such, I am wondering if there is any system available which facilitates a digital raffle. I would like to avoid any costs in having to print tickets and when anyone wishes to purchase a ticket they are emailed a message with all the details of their ticket numbers. The drawing would then also be done electronically. I can generate this simply using a form which would then email the tickets and record the issued numbers but thought that might be a solution available already.

Hi I bought a raffle ticket at work neither the posters or tickets stated that I had to be present at the raffle to win. My number came up but they redrew and gave the prize to someone else claiming that it was stated on the posters that I had to be there. Is this legal? And what can I do about it? Any help will be gratefully received

I’ve just sold cloakroom tickets for a local charity event. I sold strips of 5 for£1 and there were no individual tickets sold.

Some one commented that the tickets should have been put into the draw individually but since everyone had an equal chance was this necessary?
Their argument was that they could have won more than one prize with tickets from the samr strip.

Malcolm:I see the issue: while you were selling 5 tickets for £1, people were effectively buying 1 ticket for £1. It seems as if you ought to have separated them, but it also seems as if there is nothing to be done about it now! You can contact your local gaming council for more advice.

Hi, wondering if you can help me.. I bought on Dec 2nd 2012 £10 of raffle tickets in the local pub. There were several prizes advertised.I was there when my winning ticket was drawn out. I won the first prize an Ipad. The pub landlord informed me i would get it as soon as they recieved it from the person donating it. I still have not recieved it. Can you tell me how i stand with this..
Regards Jackie

Can a raffle prize be determined by drawing another ticket , after a first ticket is drawn the duplicate of which is placed on the prize. ? Or can someone say `this next ticket is for the `car`, book , etc.